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Frozen 1-1/16" cylinder pin..

09-07-2013, 01:46 PM

Hey guy's, i just wanted to share what i ran into yesterday at work. I have been tasked to bring an older Fink 11' variable mole board snow plow back into service. This plow has two 3" X 24" cylinders one on each side to turn the plow. One of the cylinder pins were frozen into a blind boss. It has a flange welded on top of the pin and is held in place with a 3/8" bolt. I sprayed everything with hilti lube and removed the bolt. I then used a 3lb hand sledge and hit the head of the pin several times. I placed a 4' pipe wrench on the flange top and tried to twist the pin and nothing moved. The cylinder would slide up and down on the pin so it was frozen in the boss on the bottom. i used a digging bar and waked the flange 10 or so times trying to turn it some and nothing moved. I then resorted to oxy/acc torch to place some heat on the boss area but i lacked a rose bud tip. I was able to heat the boss on each side and then tried to turn the pin again with the pipe wrench and a 4' extension nothing moved. Sure would be easier if the pin was all the way thru to the bottom for better access. I then decided that if i could use my 3/4" drive air impact to get the pin to turn a little it might just work. I was hesitant because the pipe wrench wouldn't move it. I cleaned the top of the pin and flange welded a 1 3/8" nut to the top of the flange. I placed most of the weld int the nut on top of the flange and a single pass around tthe outside of the nut. MM 211 with regular mild steel wire voltage all the way up and wire speed at 90 i think. I let it cool for 3 0r 4 minutes and 5 seconds of torque with the 3/4" impact and it was free. Man i was happy because my boss was going to hire a machine co. to get it out. Wish i had picts to show. From now on i will weld a nut on when i can and save a lot of time and frustration.....Just thought i would share....... Maybe more ideas out there on removal also.......

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I am the most inexperienced TIG hand You will ever meet. I have a 95 Villager that broke about 10 exhaust studs off in the head. Known poor quality studs. Pulled the motor and removed them all with the TIG using a flat washer and nut welded on. Some holes took 3 or 4 tries. Had 3 or 4 more broken bolts to remove from removing the engine, got them all. Almost used up my stock of nasty nuts that won't work anywhere else.

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I am the most inexperienced TIG hand You will ever meet. I have a 95 Villager that broke about 10 exhaust studs off in the head. Known poor quality studs. Pulled the motor and removed them all with the TIG using a flat washer and nut welded on. Some holes took 3 or 4 tries. Had 3 or 4 more broken bolts to remove from removing the engine, got them all. Almost used up my stock of nasty nuts that won't work anywhere else.

What is the purpose of the washer?? I have only recently started to learn to weld and purchased a welder so I have never before been able to use this process (welding a nut on) to remove a stuck pin or broken bolt, etc. I have heard of it and seen it done, but not with a washer.Thanks in advance,Mike

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What is the purpose of the washer?? I have only recently started to learn to weld and purchased a welder so I have never before been able to use this process (welding a nut on) to remove a stuck pin or broken bolt, etc. I have heard of it and seen it done, but not with a washer.Thanks in advance,Mike

The washer helps contain your arc so you don't weld the broken stud to the sides of the threaded hole. Also protects the surrounding surface from spatter.---Meltedmetal

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Had an old timer show me how to remove stuck pins by heating them up and then melting a candle close to the boss. He said the wax would wick in and make the pin easier to remove. Dont know if this might have helped. But now I have your trick of welding on a nut and using an impact to get stuck bolts and pins out.

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It took years for me to completely understand this and why it works better when weld nut on to remove bolt.
When I studied how to straighten metal using heat it finally made sense to me.
Years ago I would try heat metal around bolt to expand it but always had mixed results.
Metal expands with heat then contracts when cooled, if you heat the bolt & keep heat in or at bolt the larger metal around stays cooler and keeps the bolt from expanding at sides so it expands long ways so then when it cools it contracts and slightly shrinks (from sides) and then will usually turn out.
That's one reason why welding nut on normally works well, heat is concentrated in bolt, expands longgated, then contracts ie shrinks.
To help understand; take 1" pin or shaft 3"-4" long. Put in vise longways tighten vise, heat pin, vise will constrict expansion longways so will expand dia. Let cool and pin will drop out of vise when contracts.
My normal procedure to remove twisted off bolt; 1-drill out for easy out
2-set in easy out, tighten to engage & remove
3-heat bolt red
4-when red leaves cool with air, can touch
5-remove with easy out
6-if doesn't come out, weld nut on, remove.

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Before I got a wire machine (or a dry place to work) I was having a hitch put on a small car for a small trailer - pre-drilled holes in the frame were a b**** to get at, so the guy took each bolt and just touched the center of the threaded end, ran out about a foot of wire and used the wire as a guide to pull each bolt thru its hole, threaded the washers and nuts on the wire, started each one and then snipped off the wire.

Filed that one away for later.

Later - was putting another small hitch on another small car for the SAME small trailer, thought "AHA!!!" Now I can finally use that trick...

Dang Curt hitch included 6 little wires with built in heli-coils, screw 'em on the bolts and do as above

Oh well, guess I didn't need the mig for just that, went thru a 33 lb. spool in the first 3 weeks I had the 252 ... Steve